Greenfinch

Nothing much has changed since Sunday. Still no robin in the garden but I did hear and then spied one in the tree that is about 150 feet away from the house (see previous post about 10 goldfinches). Monday/Tuesday I saw all the other "usual nine". Monday evening was nice and there was a blackbird and dunnock having a singing competition. The blackbird would start and the dunnock seemed to be trying to shout it down. I also see/hear the dunnock in the neighbours leylandii most mornings.

This morning it was damp and misty, and I don't know if that was why there seemed to be a lot of house sparrows on the garden. I do get them but before work they mostly stay in the hedge. I also noticed more males than females - maybe the females were on the nest? or maybe I was just being observant and it's always like that. The only goldfinch I saw was in that tree but when I fed the birds I also made sure the nyger feeder was clean of cast off seed/husks and the seed was level.

When I came home from work sparrows were at the seed feeder but I noticed the trays were empty - even of the stuff that normally gets left. I don't know if it was busier than normal or just overrun with wood pigeons and collared doves. I checked the nyger and it had been used so the goldfinches are still here.

As soon as I got back indoors I spotted what I first thought was an oversized sparrow. I quickly worked out it was a greenfinch, my only other one since last July, but this was a female. I carefully went to the living room to take some photos as it had some sunflower hearts. It then flew to the ground but was behind a mound of soil. And it was then I noticed the camera setting meaning I was taking photos at too fast a shutter speed so they were too dark. Ironic that when I last saw a greenfinch I had the camera set at shutter priority and it was too slow. The one on the left has been enhanced a fair bit and is the best of the ones on the sunflower hearts. The one on the right has been altered a little.